1 of 494: 1978 Plymouth Volare Super Coupe
If you don’t remember the Plymouth Super Coupe, don’t feel bad as the car was only built for one year (1978) and in small numbers (less than 500). Dodge also had the Aspen Super Coupe which was nearly the same car and was rare, too. This Super Coupe hasn’t yet cracked the 50,000-mile mark and looks to have been exceptionally well taken care of. Perhaps only needing newer tires due to old age, this unusual Mopar beauty is in Tampa, Florida, and is available via a dealer here on eBay. The bidding is at $10,300 and counting with an elusive reserve.
The Super Coupe was harder to find than the Road Runner, which had been shifted to the new Volare platform in 1976 and limped along for five more years. At one point, you could even get the Road Runner with a Slant-Six engine (my, had times changed). So, we’re not sure why Plymouth would go for another Volare-based performance car when the Road Runner was dying off. But with the Super Coupe, it was actually super in the muscle department with a high-performance 360 cubic inch V8 that produced 220 SAE net hp. Which was not bad for a car the size of the Super Coupe (remember that Pontiac tried this with the GTO for one year in 1974).
All of the Plymouth Super Coupes were painted the same color, Crimson Sunfire, and while the seller says that this car’s repaint has a few flaws, it’s hard to tell in the photos. What may really set it off is the use of yellow, orange, and red striping, which were also redone. Open the doors and you’ll find a red vinyl interior that shows little, if any, wear for being 45 years old.
The drivetrain is matching numbers, and a TorqueFlite automatic transmission was the only way to go. If you remember the 1978 Dodge Li’l Red Express pickup, this could very well be the same engine, although a catalytic converter should be present. The addition of the Super Coupe option on a Volare coupe added nearly a third to the car’s basic list price, so it didn’t come cheaply if you were shopping among compact cars. But, according to the seller, the Super Coupe was faster from 0 to 60 than a Chevy Corvette or Pontiac Trans Am, so bragging right were important.
If you can look past the Volare/Aspen’s sketchy start in 1976 (they were some of the most recalled U.S.- built cars in history) and want something that nobody else has, why not a Super Coupe? Assuming the price is right, of course. After all, how many of the 494 could still be around? This is the first one I remember seeing and at first, I thought it was an F-body Road Runner.
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Comments
First one I’ve ever seen. Learned something new. I think it’s a pretty cool car. Interested to see what it goes for.
I sold autos in Omaha. We never had one in the showroom and did not know of it’s existence. We did have a Little Red Express truck which i drove having raced cars in NYC. Special looking and goer just like the truck. My fun ride in that truck.
Some of these had t-tops, which are even more rare.
My brother had one with t-tops. Selling it is one of his biggest regrets.
Really cool Plymouth Super Coupe! DEFINITELY worth the consideration. I actually didn’t know about these until now. If you could get it for less than 15k I would say YES! This engine 360ci version, actually put out MORE horsepower than the 440ci. Too bad that they didn’t put this engine in the New Yorker and the Town and Country station wagon! If this Super Coupe checks out OK, this “rare” car is DEFINITELY a keeper! You probably won’t ever see one of these cars at a car show/cars and Coffee get together! Definitely has my attention! Great article.
I added a cold air intake like the one on this Super Coupe to my 70 Duster 340. Was good for half a tenth in the 1/4.
The aftermarket air cleaner, valve covers, and headers, and respray make me wonder if this is a clone.
Wrong hood? I think these and the Petty Blue 43 models were silly. You could get the same engine and suspension in a standard car that would have been much cheaper, plus had much better stealth. An important consideration as local municipalities by that time had learned to weaponize the 55MPH speed limit quite well. Of course, they only did it for our “safety”. It is too bad the 4 sp available with the six and 318 was a clumsy overdrive unit. A standard 4 sp, esp with a 190HP 360 would have been popular. (not my cup of tea, mind you, but I am sure someone would have smiled over the idea)
The Plymouth Volare in Petty Blue was a poor attempt at getting people to buy a kit racer that all they had to do was purchase the car, and add the number decals and some other dealer goodies to go racing
The blue 43 model was actually a Dodge Aspen not a Volare.
I had a Aspen r/t with 318 metallic blue with r/t stripes and a 4 speed I paid 4.700.oo for it coming back from Germany great car for the money
RH: not correct, The blue Richard Petty 43 Street Kit Car was a Volare. The red Richard Petty 43 Street Kit Car was an Aspen.
The Volare and Aspen Super Coupes were quite rare. They didn’t have that snorkle hood scoop either. Don’t think it looks bad, but subtracts from originality. Keep in mind it’s a Chrysler F-Body. The 1976 and 1977 were the really bad ones and 1978 was the 1st year available for the 360 four barrel carburetor. Previous years made do with a 2 barrel. Actually in 1978 if you bought your F-Body with a V8 and California emissions, you got a 318 with the 4 barrel. Californian’s couldn’t get the Super Coupes or any Aspen or Volare with the 360 4 barrel. Interestingly enough though, if you bought your California emissions compliant F-Body with a 318, you got a 4 barrel carburetor. If memory serves me correctly the 318 in California was only available with a 4 barrel carburetor. One of a few times that California buyers actually got a better performing car than the rest of us. The gearheads of course knew about the California packages and all they had to do was order it with the California emissions package. Those were of course limited to automatic transmissions, so there is that.
You don’t know what you’re talking about, I have 14 of these car
That’s a very helpful post.
Typical hating life John. Again ……a thumbs down to bad attitude John.
Heck Jake, he’s got a bad attitude because he owns 14 of these… cars
I don’t know who John is, but go easy on him guys!
Wasn’t it Bill McCosky who drew a bunch of “Yeah, right!” hate a couple of weeks ago when he said he’d owned “Hundreds of Packards”? Then it turned out that he really DID have at least that many…and knows more than just about anybody on the planet about them?
If anyone has not been watching the news lately, people like John with different views are to be accepted, not shunned. I welcome the diversity, it livens up an otherwise dull website.
It may be “numbers-matching,” but it’s far from stock. I’d be willing to wager that the block is the only original component under the hood.
Still a remarkable find.
Agreed! Headers, Mopar Performance valve cover, aftermarket aluminum intake and the air breather all point to something more going on.
Perfect ride for Julian 🥃 and the Trailer Park boys
Nice but it’s STILL a Volarie…..
Shame it doesn’t still have its stock deep-dish steel wheels. They were big, deep-dish 15×8 wheels that were unavailable anywhere else in Chrysler’s lineup at the time, before or since.
Those stock wheels and trim would be worth maybe a couple of grand by themselves today. And they’re rarer than hen’s teeth.
My 71 Charger came with the 15×8 painted wheels when ordered with the F60 tires
The 15’x8″ steel wheels these came with were the exact same wheels that were on the mopar police vehicles at the time.
Not quite true. I’ve had both.
The regular police wheels were 15×7. Mopar’s other 15×8 wheels had the normal wheel centers. Only the Kit Car/Super Coupe had both the 15×8 hoops and the cop car centers.
Though Stockton Wheel could make you perfect dupes, if they’re still around, the factory only made those exact wheels for the two F-car specials.
jrhmobile, as far as “not quite true”, I have an original 1978 Plymouth Fury police car with the original 15″x8″ steel wheels that are identical to the wheels on my friend’s Super Coupe.
My ex-wife bought a new 76 Aspen R/T and it had many flaws. Worse car I’ve ever seen. We got divorced shortly thereafter. I think it was jinxed?🤣🤣🤣 It even broke down on our honeymoon! My buddy put a 440 in one built for drag racing. Those L shaped front torsion bars were constantly sagging. My mom’s 76 Volare was a rust bucket. I don’t remember a single person who was ever truly happy with one?
I had 2 Aspens. One a wagon and one a couple. Both had a 318. I was quite satisfied with both. Wish I had the wagon back, provided it was in the same condition it was when I had it. No rust on mine but I’m in Arizona. Sorry to those that had problems and bad luck with theirs. I certainly didn’t.
Worked in Chrysler dealership back in 78. The Super couple came flat hood or with the air grabber. It was a cool looking ride. But hard to sell. The 360-4 was fast and used in Police interceptor. This engine setup past the 220hp mark. Just by looking at it. I would say near 350hp. Love those exhaust dumps! 😂 It would sound like a NASCAR going to the track! I know the issues with these cars. I could write it up but would run out of room. 😂 Just one example.. front windshield leak. Why? The mechanics had to pull off the top moulding and finish the silicone across the top. They had real people put down the silicone around the windshield. The person was short and could not reach the top. So much for quality control! 🤨 The Union stepped in and got a wooded box for the person to step on to reach the middle top. No joke can’t make this stuff up. It was a very different time.. Ok on to this hot rod. Reverse is probably near or over $20,000. It’s a fun ride and nobody else will have one at the car shows. Good luck to the next owner.. 🐻🇺🇸
Air grabber wasn’t available on these, stock hood only, and one more thing, they were also available in brown with the same stripe package.
Bought my first wife a new Aspen RT in 1976. That car had so many window leaks and loose bolts. The hood would pop up above 65 mph! The latch bolts were never tightened. I found fender bolts that were barely screwed down. I’ve owned many Mopars 60s, 70s, 80s and beyond but it was the worst for quality control or lack thereof. I still own a 71DEMON 340 4-speed with 14,400 original miles. Can’t stop loving them.
Volare, lol, Junk when new and laughable that anyone could consider this a vintage car worthy to pay good money for…my company car broke the front suspenion at 2 yrs old, not anything I would even consider safe or worthy of …sometimes rare means something wasn’t worth a crap!
This auction has to be a scam. The auction says the car is in Florida yet the dealer plates are for a place called Quest Motors in Chicago. There’s even a banner on the wall in the background for it meaning the pictures are from a listing from that dealership. The Ebay seller has a grand total of 63 ratings, all for selling small junk items like phone cases. The thing that raised the first red flag for me was the description. They do an inflation calculation on what the option package would cost in today’s money, but it’s converted to 2017 dollars. Why wouldn’t they convert it to 2023 dollars? Probably because the entire auction, including the pictures and text are copy-pasted from a 6 year old listing on the Chicago Car Clubs website. This one: https://inventory.chicagocarclub.com/vehicles/238/1978-plymouth-volare
One word: UGLY
So are you, John, and Jon, yet here you all are without bags over your bodies, though I seriously doubt that even they would hide your ugliness.
Such a clever reply! We’re just rolling on the floor, laughing.
I always expect the worse when the topic of Aspens and Volares comes up but I can’t avoid reading the negative comments that I know will start, mostly from Consumer Reports readers and others who most often had no real experience with them. I live in the Atlanta, Georgia area, and while we don’t have much snow we do occasionally get some, and I drove my 1976 Aspen wagon every day in rain and snow. It was my work car. It had a 225 slant six, four speed o/d, and a/c. I drove it daily for over ten years and 201K miles. It never had any rust and I only remember one recall to put a plastic cover under the battery holder. Other than brakes, spark plugs, and an ignition resister the only repairs I ever did to it was a clutch, pressure plate, and flywheel resurface. I wanted a two-door car with p/s and p/b so I traded it at a Chrysler dealer. They assumed it had 101K miles and were amazed when I told them it actually had 201K.
Thumbs down to John.
Maybe faster than a vette or firebird of the same year,back when this was new there were still plenty of 70’model and earlier muscle cars around on the street that would blow the doors off this car.It’s pretty cool…when it’s cold out…
Still pretty sure this is a scam. Delete my posts all you want. The seller has never sold a car and now they have two of them, all their feedback is for listings over a year old and its all for cheap small items. These are all signs that the seller account has been hijacked. The listing itself is a copy and paste from a Chicago Car Club listing from at least 6 years ago right down to not changing the inflation conversion from 2017 dollars. Buyers beware.
MJH: I didn’t see your post when I posted the same thing. We both saw right through this scam. I reported it to EBay so hopefully they will do something about it before someone gets taken.
I also searched for the Mercedes and didn’t come up with anything.
Glad I’m not the only one with a critical eye. Lotta bids on it too. Hope ebay takes the page down before they disappear with somebody’s hard earned cash.
POTENTIAL SCAM ALERT!
The seller is not a dealer, but is displaying pictures from a dealer. It didn’t take long to find the original pictures using Google image search:
https://inventory.chicagocarclub.com/vehicles/238/1978-plymouth-volare
I followed your link. Definitely fishy. If this is legit the seller needs to explain the recycled photos.
Speaking of fecal matter, I am convinced that the movie that is called Robin Hood: Men in Tights had you in mind in regards to your name.
Hellcat/6sp swap. Super Duper Coupe
In 1983 I was at a dodge dealership installing radios cruise controls etc. Sunrooms etc. Aftermarket. I worked at a stereo shop at the time doing this for new car dealers. I spotted out back a trade in that just came in. It was a 78 or 79 aspen supercoupe. 360 buckets, console etc. This one looked to be a factory 4 spd. I didn’t question it, just when back to the shop to ask the boss/ owner to loan me the $1495.00 they wanted for it. He gave me the money and said go get it. When I got there it had just been sold. Maybe it was converted to 4spd. I don’t know. Never asked.
SOLD for $19,050.
I hope that someone didn’t just get scammed out of almost 20K.
I was 19 in 1980 and bought a 1978 Plymouth Super Coupe with 26K miles and $3,200, owned it for 3 years until the insurance became a burden…..the speeding tickets might have had something to do with that. LOL I wish I still owned it and if I were to find another, I would buy it in a heartbeat!
I was 20 when I bought a 1978 Super Couple with the 360, the car was 3 years old with only 26,000 miles. I had the car for 3 years but the insurance was getting the best of me and regretfully sold it…….I have never found another that hadn’t “just sold”. I am 63 now, retired and would love to own one again!